There's a new girl in town

[KoolKat]

Happy two weeks day for my new girls and their watery home. The girls are AMS Waikiki Queen. I sprouted all 5 seeds and all opened in two days and were in pots the third morning. How day do dat? Genetics - or faerie dust? I've only had two minor issues switching to hydroponics. One was PH, my water tested fairly neutral 7ish, but I Know it's hard. Brews awesome stout too. Nebulas article about O2 causing Ph rising was helpful. Ended up using 6 Ml Ph down per 7 gal totes. Me and the test kit match exhaust shades now. I'd also note the wet system seems to give a fast feedback to changes. I'm seeing pretty stunning growth today @75 degrees as opposed to yesterday's peak at 81. Hope that speed don't bite me.

Thanks again GWE! I'm learning, using neglected skills and having a buzzing good time doin' it!

[alltatup]

Hi Kat, welcome to the forum! Your girls look great. I'm a hydro grower as well, and I love how mine grow. If your reservoir is entirely light proof and you have the res temps under control, you should see them take off big time!!!

[KoolKat]

The new girls day 29. Ph 6, just adjusted from 5ish with water add. Water temp. 74, air 73. I'm wondering if a slight drop in water temp might be good and if there is a cheaper way to do that? $600 chiller is no go! In my setup air temp is water temp. I'm keep A/C on 75, used to let it rise to lower 80's when growing in soil. What is the ideal water temp range and are there any cool tricks to keep it lower?

[alltatup]

Before I invested in chillers, I tried big frozen water bottles in the reservoir, but they melted too fast. I don't know of any other way to keep water temps down, other than lowering room temp to 70.

[Obi-Wan]

How much air are those little pumps rated to produce? It’ll usually be listed on the pump in LPM(liters per minute). How much water is in each 7 gal. tote?

If you’re looking for an alternative to a water chiller, your best bet is to try to supply more air. As the water temperature increases it holds less dissolved oxygen so you need to have an abundant steady supply that will replenish it quickly.

[LurkingInTheGrass]

Subbed for the ride - I have 5 of these seeds, patiently waiting their turn 😁

good luck and green thoughts

[KoolKat]

Hi Obi-Wan,
Pumps are 2.8 lpm. They each run 2 10" flat airstones at opposite ends of tubs. They work very well, lots of fizzy bubbles. The tubs are 17 gal filled to 8 gal each. Im thinking 25 gal tubs at least for next grow. We could use a swap shop on the forum. Bet slot of equipment that got "upgraded" around! Hopefully the mid 70 degree temps will be ok as the girls seem great, switching to bloom in 3 days. If I do ever get a chiller I'll be needing to combine two tanks, guess with a third to include chiller. Thanks for your help!

[KoolKat]

Day 44, 2nd day of week 2 of bloom phase. Oh boy did I over plant or what? Had some A/C issues temps up to 79. Girls bulled right through. I'm confused about pruning now. Strip everything up to top 3 bud sites on colas as I just read on Schwazing? Or leave the Larfy stuff alone as in defoliation tutorial? I'm totally in uncharted waters with all this newfangled stuff, but I'm having a ball. Please advise me folks. From what I understand I gotta put my scissors away after wk 3?

[Canuck147]

I never put my scissors away - just have to leave them in the cupboard sometimes - to me it doesn't look like you need to cut off much. By looking at your pics - I would cut off some of the stuff on the bottom, the ones hanging over the pot. Then see how your plants respond. If it doesn't bother them much - then you can trim more at a later date or when needed.

They look great - great color!

[KoolKat]

Last day of the big streach. Haircut day and switch to Early Bloom stage tomorrow. Acheived 3 degree drop in water temps by injecting external air directly into tanks. Water now 69! Researching better air pumps. I intend to pipe air from A/C register which is always on (ECM air handler) into a larger air pump. This should help cool things a bit more and avoid sucking up any CO2 at night.

[kingfish]

Looks like your girls need a haircut.

[Obi-Wan]

What’s the wattage on your light? I’m gonna guess 400w based on the position on the bright spot. If so, it looks like you could drop it a bit, it’ll help control the spacing between nodes during stretch giving you more efficient colas. How much you clean up below will depend on the wattage as well. I run a 400w would clear out the bottom 1/3 of 26” plant completely12-18” is about the max penetration on a 400w hps from my experience. I’d also clear out 1/2 the larger fans in the middle 1/3 at the end of week 3 of flower. Tuck the top 1/3 as needed.

Your exposed roots will definitely enjoy the added air flow in the reservoir and 69 degrees puts you in a good place as far as reservoir temperature goes.

[KoolKat]

Hi Obi-Wan,
Light is 600W HPS, hood could be better but it serves. Started looking at LUX again due to a new article by Nebula. I'm around 55K lux in center, ill start easing down till I get to 70 or so and pause. Way too much plant for this light. I'll post after haircut & ask advise on final # colas. Now that I'm growing hydro I am definitely holding out for LED or something better - and cooler. Water now 68, air in grow room 73, air in room supplying the cooling air is 70. That's 2 deg below supply! Transpiration I suppose 😎

[mingzhu]

I would love to try about hydroponics or fog training! So in the past year I have done a lot of reading; the biggest problem left by hydroponics or mist culture is the temperature control of the tank liquid! I have imagined but did not try ~ I will operate the fog culture + deep water circulation system + oxygen pump operation at the next start! I will try to put the high-power oxygen pump in the small refrigerator freezer; two eyes on the refrigerator; to facilitate the intake or exhaust holes, I will wrap the insulation on the exhaust pipe outside the refrigerator; this will give The nutrient solution in the reservoir provides cool fresh air; I will report it in the future!

[KoolKat]

I'm thinking cooling a nute reservoir tank in a fridge would be awesome! Look up DIY kegerators and run your cooling system the way beer brewers run their taps and lines. You could use pipe wrap insulation from big box stores, even insulate your tubs if doing DWC. Air pumps are compressors and they generate a TON of heat. I'd be afraid to put in fridge due to condensation danger and 120 degree pump killing the project or making it very inefficient. Would most likely crap out fridge from the heat. You COULD run your air output line into fridge and make a coil of pipe inside fridge to act as a heat exchanger. I'm going to upgrade my air pump next and will post what I do definitely want pump in another room for heat AND avoiding introducing more CO2 at night. I want to use input tubing as well to use the recirculating air from my A/C. The air cooling is really kicking ass, I am around 69 degrees now. Damn near 4" growth last night.

[mingzhu]

Additional explanation ~ If it fails; I will use the refrigerator to be converted into a liquid supply tank; and set the temperature start control system!

[KoolKat]

Day 69, week two of Early Bloom stage. The temps and all are well. Did a final light haircut and I can see that they weren't happy about it. The colas are becoming distinct and dominant. I don't think pics show it, too crowded, but for 5 weeks of flower cycle they are up to 12 x 2 inches of solid bud. Really sweet bubble gum smell. Check these pics-